One of the biggest mistakes from Fox's X-Men saga is set to be remedied in Marvel Studios' Avengers: Doomsday. Doomsday will be a milestone moment for Marvel Studios, as it will be the first film in MCU history to fully integrate an entire team of mutants alongside the Avengers. On top of that, considering Marvel's propensity for bringing comic-accurate character depictions, the X-Men are due for plenty of improvements upon their MCU debuts.
The third official trailer for Marvel Studios' Avengers: Doomsday centered on the return of the X-Men from 20th Century Fox's mutant saga. Along with Sir Patrick Stewart's Professor X and Sir Ian McKellen's Magneto, the trailer closed off with a shot of James Marsden in his return as Scott Summers/Cyclops.
Summers only gets a few seconds of screentime, in which he removes his visor and lets out a primal yell as a massive red optic blast shoots out from his eyes. As a Sentinel walks behind him and the X-Men's mansion crumbles around him, fans get to see him in the iconic blue and yellow X-Men costume from Marvel Comics.
Although Summers' specific role in his first MCU movie is unclear, this trailer seems to tease that Cyclops will have one of the biggest roles of any of this film's mutant characters. This marks a big change from Fox's original X-Men movies, in which Marsden took a backseat to heroes like Professor X and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.
In the comics, Cyclops is most often depicted as the X-Men's leader in battle, using his classic optic blasts to take down enemies in his path. He is also rumored to be in line for a leading role with the MCU's take on the X-Men, who will take the spotlight sometime after the Multiverse Saga and after the legacy mutant actors finish their work in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Avengers: Doomsday will be the third movie in the MCU's Phase 6 slate and the fifth Avengers movie under Marvel Studios (the first since 2019's Avengers: Endgame). Marsden's Cyclops is one of 29 confirmed characters in this movie, which will bring the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four together in a battle for the multiverse against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. Avengers: Doomsday will arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026.
Cyclops' Glorious Return to Action in Avengers: Doomsday
While Cyclops was not necessarily depicted in the original X-Men movies with any mistakes for his character, the character always fell short in terms of screentime and shine. Particularly next to Stewart's Charles Xavier and Jackman's Wolverine, the X-Men's leader from the comics felt like an afterthought; after all, he only had less than five minutes of screentime in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand before Jean Grey killed him.
Even with so little footage released thus far, the fact that Cyclops is one of only three heroes in this trailer seems to tease that he will have a fairly extensive role in Doomsday. Among over half a dozen mutants are confirmed for roles in the movie, Marsden seems to be on his way to getting the shine and spotlight that eluded him in his previous four Marvel movies.
Considering this is Marvel Studios' first chance to have the X-Men interact with Earth's Mightiest Heroes, having Marsden lead the way in that effort seems to be a no-brainer. He will be one of four stars to tie Wesley Snipes for the longest tenure playing a superhero, and being one of three big names in this trailer, fans presume he will get a considerable amount of screentime and story focus alongside Professor X and Magneto.
With almost a year left until Doomsday premieres, fans will likely have to wait for a full trailer with the film's entire cast to learn about what the X-Men will be up to in the story. Until then, though, anticipation will continue building to see just what kind of impact Cyclops will have in the biggest movie of Marsden's superhero career.
Richard Nebens joined The Direct in March 2020, now serving as the site's Senior Writer and also working as an assistant editor and content creator. He started his journalism career as a hobby in 2019 and is passionate about sharing news and stories from the entertainment industry, especially comic book movies, comedy, and sci-fi. Richard looks to expand his knowledge about movies and TV every day, and he is eager to stay locked into the latest releases and breaking news at every opportunity.
